Estonia as a Nordic country in international media

Swedish ambassador to Estonia, Mr. Dag Hartelius held a speech on the Estonian Independence day, in February 24, 2009, where he considered Estonia “A Nordic Country“. It gathered a lot of attention in the country and was widely considered as a great compliment.

Sir Malcolm Bruce: Estonia is clearly a Nordic country:“I enjoy going to just Estonia – Estonia on its own, not as the last leg of a Baltic states tour,” Sir Malcolm tells me. This leads me nicely into a question about the term “Eastern Europe” – dead or not? His response is unequivocal: “It is absolutely dead. The concept of Eastern Europe is politically dead and almost culturally dead. It conjures up images of Soviet oppression and misery and ignores a real pre-Soviet democratic tradition that existed in Estonia and elsewhere.”Wanting to take it one step further, I ask him where he would classify Estonia if he were in charge of naming European regions. “It is clearly Nordic – it has a shared history with Finland, Sweden and Denmark and it is good that the European and international media are finally beginning to realise this.”

In 2003, the Estonian foreign ministry hosted an exhibit called “Estonia: Nordic with a Twist.”

Prime Minister of Estonia in January 2015:
“Estonia must become a New Nordic Country, ie a world leader in terms of personal and economic freedoms, a country with a Nordic standard of living and level of safety, while being socially and technologically more dynamic and flexible than the “old” Nordic countries.”

Prime Minister of Estonia in September 2015“…the Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Rõivas says that he thinks of Estonia as a „new Nordic” country – rigid in foundation but flexible in solutions. In 15 years from now Estonia will have caught up with the Nordic countries, he predicts.”